


Always Have / Always Will

by mona_lizard



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Abusive Parent Figure, Angst and Humor, Death, F/F, Fight Scenes, Happy Ending, Immortality, Parallel Universes, Screenplay/Script Format, Were-Creatures, evil scientist eirin, mild animal cruelty, more tags and characters to come in the next chapters, some of the characters swear like sailors, yandere Kaguya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mona_lizard/pseuds/mona_lizard
Summary: Keine and Mokou. Marisa and Alice. Two very different couples sharing the same curse: love between a mortal and an immortal.This story switches between two parallel universes. In the Witch Universe, Marisa refuses to die. In the Beast Universe, Keine refuses to die. Bad decisions, dark magic and fight scenes ensue for both.
Relationships: (one sided), (one-sided as well), Fujiwara no Mokou/Houraisan Kaguya, Fujiwara no Mokou/Kamishirasawa Keine, Hakurei Reimu/Kirisame Marisa, Kirisame Marisa/Alice Margatroid
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Witch Universe - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally the script for a doujin that got too long for me to draw it, so I decided to publish it as it is, in screenplay form.  
> It's mooore or less canon compliant, with pick-and-choose elements, mainly from Imperishable Night, Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream and from the canon novels. I hope you enjoy it!

Spring day, an overgrown building with dusty windows surrounded by an unkempt garden. Mokou is standing on the porch, smoking a cigarette and looking around. 

Alice arrives, holding her long dress to avoid the bramble.

ALICE: Sorry I'm late, have you been waiting for long?

MOKOU: _putting out her cig in a pretty full ashtray_ No, just got here.

Alice fumbles in her pockets.

ALICE: It took me a while, but I found them.

She takes out a set of big copper keys that she jingles in front of Mokou's face.

ALICE: They were locked in an old storehouse in the human village. The mayor didn't even know they were there.

MOKOU: Man… This makes me feel bad. How long have I been sulking in my room?

ALICE: Let's see… Six years, I think six years.

MOKOU: Oh. Somehow I expected worse. Six years… I've had hangovers longer than that. Six years…

ALICE, _gesturing the keys to Mokou towards the building's door_ Do you want to…?

MOKOU: _nervous_ Just go ahead.

Alice whips out one of the keys and opens the door with a loud creak, sending a few spiderwebs and a lot of dust flying. They both enter and find themselves in the hallway of Keine's school of Gensokyo history. 

ALICE: … You okay?

MOKOU: … Yeah.

ALICE: This place looks a lot rougher than just six years of desertion.

MOKOU: Oh, yeah, Keine retired earlier than that. She felt that she was becoming too old.

They walk up to the main classroom, Alice opens the door with another key.

ALICE: … You want to talk about it?

MOKOU: I mean… There's not much to talk about. After she retired, we didn't talk much about what was going to happen. 

They gaze upon the empty classroom. There are still some farewell messages written on the blackboard. "To a well-deserved and happy retirement!" "We're going to miss you, teach!" "Thank you for everything, Mrs.Keine!"

MOKOU: Her last year, she was in her beast form, the entire time.

ALICE:  _ surprised _ You mean she got stuck in her transformation?

MOKOU: I don't think she was stuck. I think she just felt more comfortable as a Hakutaku. Mystical beasts age more gracefully than humans. Her human body was getting pretty sick. I don't know.  _ She laughs nervously  _ Without a warning, I had a full-time fucking lion living with me. 

They start opening the curtains and the windows.

MOKOU: But y'know, actually, it was pretty peaceful. 

Mokou remembers. She sees herself, sitting on her porch in the forest drinking cold tea while Hakutaku Keine sleeps on the grass.

MOKOU: She looked tired, but she didn't seem to suffer. Shit, maybe I'm just telling myself that, 'cause who knows what it looks like when a Hakutaku is in pain. But she would just sleep, and purr, and walk around the house, always looking at me with her three big eyes. It was like that until the end…

Mokou remembers Keine's big lion head on her lap, whining.

_ Flashback  _ MOKOU: Shhh baby… It's okay… It's okay.

The hakutaku whines louder

_ Flashback _ MOKOU:  _ starts sobbing  _ It's all okay… shhh… You're gonna be okay.

The hakutaku stops whining and lets herself fall in Mokou's lap with a thud. As she collapses, she transforms back into human form, an old, wrinkled and pale Keine. Mokou holds her, sobbing. 

Mokou's reverie is interrupted by Alice. 

ALICE: That is so bizarre. To go from someone who could only transform on full moons to this… Were-beasts are so mysterious, no doubt. I've never heard of a case like this.

MOKOU:  _ still emotional _ Fucking Gensokyo, girl. We've both seen stranger things happen here.

Alice stares at Mokou for a second, then gets embarrassed and starts pretending to clean and organize some old stationery drawers.

ALICE: I'm sorry, I was being insensitive. Of course it doesn't matter if were-beasts can- (Really, Alice?) - I just - I'm sorry for your loss.

MOKOU: Eh, it's okay, I know you were just curious. I can't be mad at you for that. After all, you're in the same boat with-

Alice tenses. They stare at each other.

MOKOU: Shit, I'm sorry, see, I have no manners either. Haven't seen each other in a decade, and I didn't even ask you. Marisa, is she-

ALICE: She's gone.

Alice closes the drawer she was fumbling with.

MOKOU: When? How?

ALICE: … I don't know, actually. She just  **disappeared** . No one has seen her in nine years. I just woke up one day and she was  **gone** .

MOKOU: But then, she's still alive?

ALICE: … That's what everyone says. That she's on a long quest, that she will be back soon, that the gods are going to make her one of them like they did to Reimu, that she found a fountain that makes you young again... There are all sorts of rumors, everyone has their own epic story. Personally… I don't believe any of it.

Mokou sits down on a table, Alice stays up.

ALICE: This is messed up, right? Of all people I should be the one clinging to the hope that she's alive. But she's old. She's a mortal. I just- It's so cruel, I know, but I firmly believe she's dead.  There are so many ways, in Gensokyo, for brave and strong people like her to become immortal. Being accepted in a magician sect, getting a reward from one of the gods, … eating  **your** liver, Mokou.

Mokou laughs nervously.

ALICE: She kept saying that she could be immortal one day, but if she was actually interested in doing it, she would have done it by now. She would have  **told me** . It would have been so easy. She kept spewing these tales of "together forever", but in her heart of hearts I know she didn't actually mean it, or else she would have figured that out sooner.  **With me** . 

MOKOU: But then, where is the body, how did she disappear?

ALICE: What do I know? Maybe she didn't want me to see her get too old. Or maybe she wanted to go on one last crazy adventure before kicking the bucket. Yeah, probably  **that** . Fighting against a too powerful enemy, that's how she would have wanted to go.

MOKOU: That does sound a lot like Marisa.

ALICE: Right? Can you seriously picture her dying of old age.

MOKOU: No one can! Remember her 40th birthday?

Alice looks less sad and serious, her eyes light up.

ALICE: Yes! The guests were of all shapes and sizes. We had fairies, ghosts, even people from the Moon and from Hell. But no matter their differences, their alignment or their species, everyone was talking about the same thing…

ALICE and MOKOU _together_ : They couldn't believe she lived to be 40!

They both laugh happily. Alice wipes a little tear with her hand.

ALICE: Let's go grab brooms. I'll help you clean the place. I have nothing better to do.

They open a closet and get some cleaning supplies.

ALICE: So this is it, you think you'll be able to handle the school?

MOKOU: That's what Keine would have wanted. She was very worried that no one would care about history after she left. I was never confident enough to promise her I'll take over, but I'm ready now.

ALICE: So you spent the last six years cramming for this, studying all of Keine's old books?

MOKOU:  _ scoffs _ Are you kidding? I don't need to study history!  **I was there.**

Alice laughs, broom in her hand.

MOKOU: … No, it's the people I'm more worried about. I get cranky when I have to interact to one tourist in the forest, can you imagine a class of twenty students? It's terrifying. But it's something we have to put ourselves through.

ALICE: We?

MOKOU: Immortals. Like you and me. We need to interact with humans. All the time. Or we lose touch with time.

ALICE:  _ boasting _ If I dare remind you, I'm very much a mortal. Magicians live for a thousand years, and if I have to live one more year than that, I'll start a riot. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the extra time, but I grow old. Slowly, but I do. And someday, I'll kiss Gensokyo goodbye. I for one, cannot wait!

MOKOU: Now, don't say things like that.

ALICE: Kidding. I know what you meant with "losing touch with time".

MOKOU: We both know someone who did.

ALICE: Kaguya… You two talked lately?

MOKOU: I can't even bother anymore. She's a lost cause. Mortals are nothing to her. I can't look at her in the eyes. She's been roaming the woods, destroying stuff. Yelling "Your pet is dead Mokou! Your pet is dead!" Can you believe I was starting to become like her...

ALICE: Until…

MOKOU: Yeah, until Keine.

They bump fists and shout:

ALICE: To mortal girlfriends!

MOKOU: The sweetest reality check there is!

In the hallway, behind the door, someone is lurking. 

Reveal Marisa, looking younger than she should, with ragged, dark clothes and an eyepatch. She's tense, hiding behind the door, stalking the two girls and sweating, nervous

MARISA: (Damn it! Looks like I've really chosen the worst time to come back!)


	2. Beast Universe - Part 1

Mokou's house. In a small rustic living room, a table is set with cutlery for one and two chairs. Keine, in her 40s, is standing in front of the table. Mokou enters the room, looking disheveled. She is shirtless and has huge bandages across her chest and stomach. She's very pale and sickly and using a crutch to walk. Keine rushes to help her walk to the table.

KEINE: Oh my god… Are you…

MOKOU: M'fine, m'fine. Taking  **it** out didn't hurt half as much as I -  _ she winces  _ \- expected. Now,  **growing it back…**

Keine helps her to sit, looking very concerned.

MOKOU: Ah- But I will be fine. It's already growing back. I can feel it. Come on, don't look at me like that.

Enters Alice, with a bloody apron and bloody gloves, she looks tired too. She is holding a plate that has some sort of bloody piece of meat, an organ of some sort, on it.

ALICE: Come on. Quick. You have to eat this raw. 

She places the plate on the table. Keine gulps. Mokou takes Keine's hand.

ALICE: I'll leave you to it.

She leaves, taking off her apron.

Keine grabs a fork and a knife, with a nervous, death grip.

MOKOU: I know we've talked about this - 

KEINE: Yes, a thousand times, so please-

MOKOU: But are you sure? Are you sure-sure?

Keine looks at Mokou with a nervous smile.

Room turns red. Mokou thinks.

MOK: (This is wrong. You know it's wrong. Why did I agree to do that? You're ruining her life. That's what I'm about to do, i'm about to ruin Keine's life. You've been together 25 years. That is nothing compared to the centuries I've spent being alone, destructive and angry. She doesn't know the real you. She is going to regret this-)

MOKOU: I still think-

KEINE: Listen. We've been over this. I don't want to leave anytime soon. I will be immortal. With you. This is what I choose and I couldn't be more sure.

You told me about the pain, I'm ready to put up with it. You showed me how to not lose track of time, of who I am. I've lived with you. I know all the small print that comes with the big prize... 

MOKOU: (Tell her. Tell her the real reason.)

KEINE: And you don't have to be afraid of being stuck with me forever.

MOK:  _ caught off guard  _ W-What?

KEINE: You're still free to leave me anytime. I would never use immortality as an excuse to entrap you. I have other reasons to want eternal life. My duties as a historian, for starters. Too much knowledge disappears with me if I die. And it's a historian's dream to be able to live through-

MOKOU:  _ stands up _ How can you say something like that? I'd never think of you as a "trap"! As being stuck! Do you think i'm some kind of -

She coughs a bit of blood. Keine helps her back in her seat.

KEINE: Then what is it? I know it's not just about the pain. It can't be.

MOKOU: … What if you end up thinking of me as a trap? As the only option left after all the mortal world you know disappears?

KEINE: Mokou…

Keine squeezes Mokou's hands. Opens her mouth to say something, closes it.

KEINE: … You're not the  **only** option. There's always Kaguya!

Mokou stares at Keine, expressionless.

KEINE: Ah! Sorry! Not funny! I'm sorry. That was not funny. It sounded funnier in my head. I-

Mokou snickers.

MOKOU: Whatever. Let's do this. We'll figure it out.

KEINE: Yeah. I should hurry while it's raw.

MOKOU: Fucking Gensokyo, girl.

KEINE: Fucking Gensokyo.

MOKOU: So now, here's how it works. You have to take big bites. First bite, you stop growing old. Second bite, you'll never be ill. Third bite, you cannot be killed. This is going to sound gloomy, but try taking only two bites, so you can always opt out of this-

While Mokou was talking, Keine finished the whole liver off screen.

MOKOU: You-

KEINE,  _ dizzy:  _ Oh, yeah, that was a no-brainer. If we share a curse, we share all of it. I did not have Alice rip your liver out for me to only take half of the-  _ she collapses on the table. _

Mokou steps back and falls on her butt a few feet away.

MOKOU: Here it comes-

Keine bursts into flames. Mokou is bracing herself in the corner of the room, closing her eyes to avoid the bright light. When she opens her eyes , Keine is lying on the floor, almost naked. She opens her eyes. Mokou cannot repress a huge smile.

KEINE: It worked… It worked!

She stands up, naked, and reaches her hand towards Mokou to help on her feet. Equals now, two immortals with the blessing of Hourai.


	3. Witch Universe - Part 2

Marisa, in her late 50s and all her grey-haired glory, is in her cottage, looking at an unopened letter. It has a wax seal with a mysterious logo: some sort of frog? "To Marisa - As promised" is written in cursive. Marisa stares and hesitates to open it. She turns it and looks at it from all angles, as if something else was going to appear if she stared long enough. She thinks.

MARISA: I hate to admit it, but it has become obvious that working with Alice is not going to make me a magician.

Her mind wanders to their usual magic routine with Alice. Tasting each other's potions with a finger, reading the same grimoire and turning the pages very slowly to make sure the other would follow, and brainstorming new spells for hours on end to end up scrapping it all and going with the first idea.

MARISA: I wouldn't say she is coddling me, I wouldn't put it that way. She has respect for my skills as a witch, sure. 

But - and I don't think she does it on purpose - but she always makes the difference between a mortal witch like me, and a youkai magician like her, very, very, very clear.

She sees herself, working alone after hours, going back to the workbench after Alice falls asleep, hoarding on a secret shelf some books she stole from other magicians.

MARISA: On paper, it's easy to become a magician. There is a spell called Abandon Worms. It will make you stop aging and you will live a thousand years. It's supposed to be a complicated spell, but I'm no beginner. I studied this thing. This spell, Abandon Worms, I could do it with my eyes closed… If it was only a matter of theory.

An apple, a cup of maggots, a pentacle and a candle. These are the ingredients for Abandon Worms. She remembers all the times she tried. The first times, it was with Alice. The later times, she was alone, trying again and again until late into the night.

MARISA: The problem is, you also need the right energy for it. The energy of a magician who has magician emotions instead of human emotions. That energy, I can't seem to get right. I asked Alice how she did it, but she couldn't give me an explanation. She was raised among magicians of a City Sect. Even if she was human, she grew up thinking, speaking, doing everything like them. So it all sounds obvious to her. She thinks I'm fucking with her when I say I can't do it. Says "Why don't we try something else, then?" like I'm a charity case.

She doesn't think the bitter words. In all her flashbacks, she can't help but shift her focus to Alice, to all the fun they have, to the feeling of their magics working together that no one else can understand, to how proud it makes her feel when Alice introduces her as her partner to other magicians.

MARISA: Modifying your energy is one of the basics of magic. I used to be good at it. But for too many years I have been "the witch" in the "witch and magician" couple. It made me soft. The label left a mark on my identity. Someone told me, long ago, that identity is a dangerous thing in magic. The more you know who you are, the less you can become something else.

Marisa is sitting at a table with Rinnosuke, drinking tea, arms spread on the table in a dramatic desperate pose. She whines to him:

MARISA: And I would be okay with that If I could be Marisa the Witch **and** still be immortal!

RINNOSUKE: Now now, aren't you a little young to start worrying about that?

MARISA: But it's killing me! It's killing me to know you guys are living at this huge scale, and my entire life is only a little nugget of time on it! I used to be okay with dying "young", but then I think of all the adventures you will all have without me when I'm old or dead, and it's **killing me**!

RINNOSUKE: And what do you want me to do about that? For me, it's not like I did anything to live that old.

MARISA: Right! Your mother fucked a youkai and there you are.

RINNOSUKE: Language.

MARISA: Also, I don't want to leave Alice alone just yet. We're not done! She is so cold, you know, she's just layer over layer over layer of good manners and clever phrases. I'd feel bad if I died right before she finally decides to be cute and vulnerable with me. She'll live for a thousand years so she thinks it's okay to take decades to fall in love.

RINNOSUKE: Are you worried about what she'll be like after you're gone?

MARISA: _looking away_ Nah, she's a big girl, she can handle herself. Just wish I lived on the same level, is all.

Marisa sighs. We go back to her internal monologue.

MARISA: In reality, I know someone who could make my energy just right. Someone who could teach me Abandon Worms, and even more.

We see a young Marisa, training relentlessly. Behind her, in the shadows, a tall woman bosses her around. 

MARISA: Someone who wouldn't coddle me by handling the hard parts of the spells for me. A born magician of a truly unique kind, more powerful than Alice, than Patchouli even.

I've grown soft. I need to hurry before I forget what I learned. I need this person to bring out the magic in me, at any cost.

Hakurei Shrine. Reimu sighs at Marisa

REIMU: If Alice finds out, she will kill you.

MARISA: If it works, she won't be able to.

REIMU: I should rat you out. This is **insane**.

MARISA: You've worked with me long enough. You can search for replacements, but no one else in Gensokyo will help you with the Youkai the way I help you. You **need me** to be immortal.

REIMU: Ugh… I hate to admit it, but you're right. Ok, give me a minute.

Reimu enters the shrine and comes back with a cracked orb. It has the logo we saw on the wax seal earlier, the weird frog-shape.

REIMU, _shielding the orb in her arms_ : You know there are other ways.

MARISA: This is the one for me.

Reimu sighs.

REIMU: That's the best you'll get from me. One of her old youkai minions is sealed in this. You set it free, it'll come back to her. Now, you'll have to convince it to tell you where she is. I'm not going to help you with that.

Marisa takes the orb.

MARISA: Piece of cake. I'm really good at making people feel like they owe me.

REIMU: Figured that much.

MARISA: Thank you. Can you believe I'll be immortal when I come back?

REIMU, _mumbling_ : First thing you should do with your new magician powers is kill the bitch who gave them to you.

Marisa starts to fly away on her broom.

MARISA: What was that?

REIMU: … Don't get your hands too dirty sweet-talking that Youkai.

Marisa throws the orb into the air with a spin and catches it.

MARISA: Never, you know me!

We're back to Marisa staring at the letter.

She finally opens it. She takes a deep breath and exhale.

Later, during the night, she slips out of bed, kisses Alice on the forehead 

MARISA: (See you soon.)

She puts on a coat, and grabs a big bag that she stuffs with tools and her grimoire.

MARISA: (When I'll be back, we'll never have to say goodbye. Again.)

She puts the letter in her pocket.

****

A few hours later, she's in a creepy, swamp-y mountain, struggling to fly because of the fog. She gets off her broom and continues on foot. She arrives in front of a weirdly shaped cave. She gets the letter out of her pocket, and checks it. We see that the letter is a map. As she reads, someone speaks behind her.

???: My my, look who finally decided to come back? 

Marisa, very startled, looks behind her. 

Mima is there, floating a few feet above the ground, her moon-staff shining in Marisa's face.

MIMA: Your master missed you, pumpkin.


	4. Beast Universe - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for child death in this chapter.

Eientei, dawn. Kaguya's throne room.

KAGUYA:  _ screaming  _ She did  **what?**

TEWI: … I didn't say for sure. For sure I saw the lion girl burst into flames and heal after getting injured in the forest. But that doesn't mean she is  **immortal** . 

KAGUYA: And what else do you think this could mean, moron? 

REISEN: I mean, she's a magic lion, who knows if this isn't just something she can do.

EIRIN: But it does sound an awful lot like Hourai immortality…

KAGUYA:  **Are you all trying to drive me insane?**

She throws a vase near Reisen and punches her chair.

EIRIN: Now now, there's no need to be mean to the rabbits, Princess. It's not their fault.

KAGUYA: So that bitch got to eat that liver after all huh? I never thought they would actually  **do it** . Fujiwara no Mokou, betraying our bond of immortality for ~true love~...

REISEN: You mean Mokou Kamishirasawa-

KAGUYA: Oh! Not you too! What side are you on!

The rabbits look at each other.

KAGUYA: Forget it! I'll investigate this myself. Fuck off, all of you!

The rabbits get out of the room. Eirin stays. She puts a hand on Kaguya's shoulder, but Kaguya slaps it.

KAGUYA: This isn't  **right** . Mokou and I have been the only immortals for  **centuries** . That furry bitch was supposed to be a distraction. A glimpse in her life. She was supposed to be a  **phase** . It was written in destiny. Mokou and I were born to fight. Happiness lasts for a few hours.  **Rage is eternal** . Mokou knew that. The Hakutaku… She bewitched her!

EIRIN: And so what? The more the merrier! Mokou was too  **easy** for you anyways. 

KAGUYA: It's not the same. Keine is a baby. She knows nothing of war. She is staining a perfect record of pure rage. I don't want her in my story.

EIRIN: And what do you suggest? I haven't found the antidote to the Hourai Elixir yet. Kaguya, **I might never find it** .

KAGUYA: We have plenty of fucking time to figure that out, don't we? For now, the girl has to  **pay** .

****

A few days later. Keine's school of Gensokyo History.

Keine is giving history lessons in her classroom, to a class of teenage and fairy students. She is writing on the blackboard.

KEINE: So, who can tell me what year the Tengu took control of the mountains?

She turns around and points to a student raising her hand.

KEINE: Yes?

STUDENT: 1885-

The student's desk catches on fire. She screams.

Another student's dress starts burning too. Everywhere Keine turns her head, something starts burning.

KEINE: Who's lighting these fires?

She rushes to grab and push the students away from the fire. As she almost falling while grabbing one of them, she is frozen in place.

KEINE: Time… stopped…  _ she exclaims _ REISEN!

When she can move again, the whole classroom is on fire, most of the students headed towards the exit.

KEINE: No, no, no no!

She pushes the remaining students to the exit, but one of them has her leg stuck under one of the fallen tables.

STUDENT: Miss Keine…

Keine reaches towards her and starts to pick up the burning furniture with her bare hands to try and make a way.

KEINE: No!

Outside, the other students managed to get out. The taller, older one is holding the kids together. They are watching the school burn down, red light reflecting in their terrified eyes. 

Reisen is hiding in the school's garden behind a tree, armed gun in her hand. She looks intensely at the kids. She tenses, then puts her gun down and walks away. She disappears in the bushes.

The building collapses. The flames wear down. Keine emerges from the rubble, painfully lifting parts of a brick wall. She is sobbing.

KEINE: No… No… Please god… no…

The student who was with her doesn't get up.


	5. Witch Universe - Part 3

Mima's hut. It's dark. Marisa is sitting on her knees , the ingredients of Abandon Worms (a cup of maggots, an apple, a pentacle and a candle) laid in front of her. She looks ashamed and has her head down. Mima is floating in front of her, her brow furrowed.

MIMA: I do not understand. I laid out everything just right for you. We've been working on your energies for weeks. Why can't you make it work?

MARISA: I'm sorry ma'am… 

MIMA: And quit your whining. For the goddesses' sake, where is that competitive spark I saw in your eyes when you came back last month? You sound like a baby. Enough Abandon Worms for today-

Mima starts taking back the cup from the ground, Marisa extends her hand at it looking desperate

MARISA: No, no please! Won't you let me try one more time?

MIMA: You know what, I take that back, I remember you as a baby and you didn't even whine that much. 

MARISA: I was almost there, I swear.

Marisa reaches to try to force the cup out of Mima's hands. Mima tips the it over and the maggots in it fall to the ground, Marisa flinches back a few inches to avoid getting covered in worms.

MIMA: You'll practice this lousy spell on your own free time. 

She extends her hand to gently lift Marisa from the ground.

MIMA: Darling dear, if you care too much about being a magician, you'll exhaust yourself. I have other spells to teach you, that will make good use of the talent you already have, my dear little witch.

She hugs Marisa, who looks very small in her arms.

*****

Mima's forest. Marisa is standing on the ground, concentrating. Doing some hand gestures. A little gooey yokai servant of Mima's is sitting on a tree branch near her. He's got a long tongue and crazy eyes.

YOKAI: Think you can reach that other tree here?

He jumps to a nearby tree.

MARISA: What? I don't know. Shut up, yokai.

YOKAI: I don't think you can! I don't think you have the range!

MARISA: I'm trying to concentrate here! Haven't done black magic in a long while.

YOKAI: But you were raised by a black magician. What kind of magic you've been doing, then?

MARISA: Light magic. Uh, love magic. And star stuff.

YOKAI:  _ *laughs* _ What's the point in all of that?

MARISA: I don't know, people like it, I like doing it,  **stop talking** .

YOKAI: Hey, did you know Reimu Hakurei is going to become a god?

MARISA, _dropping her hand gestures to look at him_ : What? Why do you care?

YOKAI: Mima says we need to take the shrine back before Reimu Hakurei becomes a god.

MARISA: Huh. Okay. Whatever you say.

YOKAI: I think it's why she needs to stop sucking at magic quickly. No pressure.

Marisa growls and tries to ignore the little bugger. She gets back to her hand gestures, then screams a spell in dark magic tongue, deep and mysterious, as if talking backwards. Wind starts blowing. The grass arounds her turns dry, and quickly all vegetation and life starts withering in a circle around her. It reaches the yokai's tree, the yokai quickly jumps to a higher branch when the branch he was sitting on cracks and falls down. Then it keeps rotting as far as Marisa can see. She widens her eyes, taken aback.

MARISA: Wow. I did not know I would be good at this.

YOKAI: You should probably fly over here and see for yourself.

The yokai puts his hands over his eyes like a visor and takes a good look from up in the tree. In bird's eye view, a whole portion of the forest has been pulverized, as if there had been a forest fire.


	6. Beast Universe - Part 3

Eientei, Eirin's lab. She has an Erlenmeyer filled with a shiny red substance. She injects something dark and murky in it. The black substance starts to dissolve into the red, making it less bright and shiny, but suddenly the Erlenmeyer catches on fire, and then the liquid in it is as red as before, shining even brighter. She shakes the flask, unhappy with the result. She sighs and write something down on a notepad. Behind her, test rabbits (regular animal-rabbits, not humanized) in cage are watching her with blank expressions.

She takes her notepad and exits the lab, walking through a corridor until she reaches a big fancy door. She knocks on it then opens it as she says:

EIRIN: Princess Kaguya. I need test subje-

She is interrupted by burning spell cards flying at her face. She slams the door just in time to not get hit. We go to the other side of the door.

Eientei, Kaguya's throne room.

The room is basically on fire. The furniture is destroyed and all over the place. A disheveled Kaguya gets thrown against the door. An angry, flaming and glowing Mokou closes the space between them and administers a burning punch to Kaguya's head, then grabs her had, turns it around, and punches the other cheek. Kaguya spits a tooth and laughs.

MOKOU: The fuck are you laughing at?

KAGUYA: So you are still capable of fighting proper! I thought the girl turned you bitch, but there you are, eternal smoke!

Mokou holds Kaguya by the collar and makes her hands detonate. She is pushed away by the explosion. Kaguya emerges from the smoke, bleeding.

KAGUYA: So good, so good to finally see you fighting dirty! You're so much better like this, than hiding in your forest and chasing the bad guys away with nice, clean spells!

MOKOU: I don't understand! We didn't do anything to you! And the children certainly did not either!

KAGUYA: You think you're better than me, huh?

She collapses to the ground but keeps her eyes fixed on Mokou.

KAGUYA: You always think you're better than me. But now, look! At this instant, I am dying, and I've already died six times since you entered this room. And when I go back to life again, you're going to kill me again, like I did to you so many times before, because you're a killer, Mokou. You're a killer like me.

Kaguya is staring at Mokou. She whispers to herself as her vision blurs.

KAGUYA: (Mokou, you're usually satisfied after one kill. It's always me who pushes it, you never fought to your true potential. Look at you now! Your rage is beautiful. You are beautiful.)

Mokou approaches her and stomps on Kaguya's head.

MOKOU: You are sick.

KAGUYA: I'm right! This is how you're meant to be. You shouldn't have dragged the half-beast into this. She will never get you.

MOKOU,  _ pushing harder with her foot _ : You think  **you** get me?  **That's it?**

KAGUYA: If I wasn't right, why are you here? You know you can't kill me. What are you trying to do?

MOKOU: I'm here to warn you. To tell you that if you lay a single finger on her-

Kaguya smiles and seems to have recovered her energy. She rolls over, making Mokou stumble off-balance and gets up, looking down at Mokou.

KAGUYA: You are  **not** that dumb! You know there's nothing you could do to me that would matter. You know I'm beyond threats.

MOKOU: You can still feel pain, I will make you remember tha-

KAGUYA: You're here because you're angry! The rightful rage of the immortals who knows nothing matters and nothing you can do will make things better! You're here to kill me because it  **feels good** ! This feeling, this beautiful feeling, we're the only two people who can ever understand it, Mokou!

MOKOU: Oh, kill me now, just kill me right now! I'd rather die another time than listen to your nonsense. 

Kaguya grabs Mokou by the hair.

KAGUYA: No please, please do the killing today. I am having way too much fun to kill you now. 

MOKOU: (She's right. What am I doing? This is exactly what she wanted. I'm playing her game.)

Kaguya steps away and opens her arm.

KAGUYA: Come on, do one you haven't tried yet. Roast me, choke me with smoke.

MOKOU: … Yeah, hard pass, I'm out of here.

KAGUYA: Don't ignore me again. Don't go back to your little wifey in your little forest house. I will make your eternal life hell.

MOKOU: I won't let you, Kaguya.

KAGUYA: You can't kill me, so you-

MOKOU: You don't fool me with all that. There are things who matter to you. There **have** to be. I will find out what they are and I will stop you.

Mokou flies away. Kaguya watches her go for a moment. Her smile fades. She bites her thumb, then sits in her burning throne room. She stays like this until the fire goes out.

****

Mokou's house. It's dark out. Mokou lands in the pathway leading to the house, retracts her wing and starts walking towards the porch. She notices the lights are on. A very tired, dark circles Keine is crouched by the door, with lanterns on and holding a sword in her arms. Mokou looks at her worried and speeds up towards her. She puts a hand on her shoulder.

MOKOU: Hey kitty, you aren't asleep?

KEINE,  _ not looking at Mokou and staring deep into the woods instead _ : I'm waiting for the rabbit. 

MOKOU: Reisen? There's no rabbit, I just came from the woods, go to sleep baby, there is no rabbit.

KEINE: She's hiding. She followed me all day. I saw her when I was at the market. She could have followed me home.

Mokou sits next to Keine who is still not looking at her. She puts a reassuring hand on Keine's, still holding onto the sword. She guides Keine's hand to slowly put down the weapon.

MOKOU: What would she be doing here? Did something else happen? Please tell me.

KEINE: I died again this morning.

Mokou swallows.

KEINE: It wasn't that bad. It was just a bullet in the neck. 

Her eyes get teary

KEINE: It hurts like hell. Coming back to life is so tiring. I thought it would get easier but I'm more tired each time. And the cold right before you burn, god Mokou, the cold… How do you do it? How did you do it so many times?

She seems to snap out of her panic state and finally acknowledges Mokou sitting next to her. She sees that Mokou has coal on her face. She brushes the burn marks with the back of her hand.

KEINE: It's late. Where have you been tonight, Mokou?

Mokou pulls Keine in her arms into a big hug. She buries her head in Keine's hair to choke back tears.

MOKOU: I'm so sorry Keine. I'm so sorry.

KEINE: Why are you sorry? Where were you?

MOKOU: I should have never dragged you into this.

Mokou manages to not cry, Keine doesn't.

KEINE: It's not your fault. We were just supposed to be together forever.

MOKOU: I should have known she would react like that. You don't deserve all this. This is so unfair.

KEINE: But what can we do now? Do you know what to do?

MOKOU: I will figure something out.  **I promise you** . I will figure something out.


	7. Witch Universe - Part 4

Mima's forest. Reimu is trudging through the swamps. She has her sleeve over her nose to avoid smelling whatever weird fumes emanate from the water. She slowly approaches a bubbling part of the water. She takes a breath, then quickly grabs something from deep in the mud. She fishes a out a dirty little frog yokai.

REIMU: There you are, you nasty little thing. Do you know how much you stink?

The yokai squirms in her hands.

REIMU: Ugh. But you are so tiny and pathetic. It's not you who's poisoning the water, is it? Oh well, that doesn't matter.

Reimu seals the yokai into one of her little orbs. She puts it back in her bag. She looks at muddy water, sighs, and scoops some of it with two fingers. She brings them to her nose and violently backs off in disgust.

REIMU: No. Nope. Uh-huh. Still poisoned. I knew it! This,  _ she points at the swamp  _ isn't a yokai's doing. Cool. I knew it. Okay. Now, where is she?

Reimu makes a hand gesture and a spell card appears between her hands.

REIMU: Gods above me, reveal the path-

MARISA: Yo Reimu! Looking for something?

Marisa is behind Reimu, floating above the water sitting on her broom. Reimu is surprised and flushed.

MARISA: See, you don't need your gods to find what you're looking for.

REIMU: I figured it was you who did this.  _ She gestures at the water _

MARISA, _sarcastically_ : Oh no, I was found out! What am I going to do! What gave it away? Was it the witchy smell? The smell reminded you of me?

REIMU: Wh- No, even now you don't smell like that.

MARISA: Hah! What do I smell like now?

REIMU, _seriously_ : Well, like you used to, pine, boletus, cinammon-  _ she realizes Marisa is making fun of her  _ Ugh! I mean, why though? Why'd you poison the swamps?

MARISA, _shrugging_ : We needed more black frogs. This is an efficient way to get black frogs.

REIMU:  **We?** Oh, Mima and you are a  **we** , now?

Marisa kicks the water gently with the tip of her shoes. She doesn't answer.

REIMU: And what is  **she** going to do with the black frogs?

MARISA: What  **we** are going to do with them is none of your business. Seriously Reimu, chill out. It's just a bit of water. No one comes in these parts of the woods anyways.

REIMU: No, it's not just a bit of water, Marisa. It's an entire swamp. It even started bleeding through the stream down below. That is some very powerful dark magic. It's freaky.

MARISA,  _ smiling _ : Hah! I guess that's some very powerful dark magic.

REIMU: You shouldn't be proud of it, idiot! Your freakshow spells and their energy are oozing all the way to the mountain villages. We saw your black birds, and what you did to the berries so that when you eat them you feel  **hungrier** than before eating them. People in Gensokyo are afraid. They think there's a demon in the mountain.

MARISA: Then why don't you tell them it's m- Wait a minute, how did you know I did all this?

REIMU,  _ sighs _ : Marisa, I know what your magic feels like.

Reimu blushes but keeps eye contact with Marisa. Marisa has a blank expression. Suddenly, she gives a big kick in the water, splashing Reimu with muddy water.

REIMU:  **Gross!** What is wrong with you?

MARISA: Relax, baby-girl. 

Reimu winces and looks away at the pet name.

MARISA: You know what I'm here for, right? I'm here to get better at magic, so I can be immortal. This is exactly what I'm doing. It's only been a few months, give it time. I know what I'm doing. Do you trust me?

REIMU: Against everything sensible, yes.

MARISA: Good. 

She flies closer to Reimu. She talks really close to her face.

MARISA: So don't get in my way.

As Reimu is distracted by the sudden closeness, Marisa grabs Reimu's bag that had the sealed yokai in it. She flies up, and shakes the bag. Dozens of little frog yokai fall from the bag and onto Reimu. Marisa leaves her to deal with them as she flies away.

***

Mima's hut, Marisa comes home and puts her coat, broom and Reimu's bag in the entryway. She goes to her little table where a cup of maggots, apple, pentacle and candle are waiting for her. She puts both hands on the table and stares at the ingredients.

MARISA: (You didn't even ask her how Alice was doing.)

She gets angry. Bangs the table with her fists, then knocks over the cup of maggots. She looks at them squirming. Here eyes start to tear up. She plops herself on the chair and buries her head in her arms on the table, muffling a scream, still surrounded by alive maggots. She cries. Behind her, Mima is looking at her in the dark. Marisa doesn't seem to notice it.


	8. Beast Universe - Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for needles and freaky medical experiments in this chapter, but nothing too graphic, not more than what you would see in a PG-13 anime.

Eientei, back door of the mansion. It's dark. Alice is outside, looking around nervously. She holds her wand to the door, shielding the light emanating from its magic with her body. She waves it and whispers a spell. The door unlocks bolt by bolt. She very carefully starts to open it.

REISEN,  _ appearing behind her  _ : What are you doing here?

ALICE: Goodness!

She jumps and waves her wand at Reisen to see her face. She is caught in Reisen's maddening eyes for a second, but manages to look away before their powers get to her. She coughs and gathers her courage back.

ALICE: I'm helping a friend with a little bit of magical investigation of, _she stutters_ , of your master's belongings. When i'm finished with that, I'll be right back to take care of you too!

She raises her wand and a bunch of sturdy little dolls go flying at Reisen, restraining her with ribbon until she can't move.

REISEN: Wait, don't go in there-

Ribbons growing around Reisen's head gag her and cut her words short. Alice runs into the mansion.

***

Corridor of Eientei. Alice is walking using her wand as a light, and carefully looking around. She finds a door, opens it, and finds herself in a dark room. Slowly dragging her wand around, she sees shelves full of flasks and vials and Eirin's experiments. She hovers over the work table and finds Eirin's notebook. She lowers her light to look at the text, but before she gets the chance to read, she gets tackled from behind and pinned to the ground, dropping her wand.

ALICE: Get off of m-

Reisen puts her hand on Alice's mouth and shushes her. Bits of torn out ribbon stil hangs from her neck and her vest. She whispers.

REISEN: Quiet.

Alice squirms and mumbles under Reisen's hand.

REISEN: Quiet, I said. Kaguya sleeps in the next room.

Alice stops making noise. Reisen carefully withdraws her hands but keeps constraining Alice to the ground. Reisen is still whispering.

REISEN: So you too try to play hero now? I don't remember you being the meddling-in-other-people's-business type.

ALICE: Well, I am now. It's what Marisa would have done, so, someone has to do it.

REISEN: If I recall correctly, poking her nose in other's affairs is how she done got herself killed. Trying to play hero and save the forest from Mima.

ALICE,  _ visibly hurt _ : Yeah, I'm not really the dying type either, I'll be fine.

REISEN: 'Since when are you **friends** with Mokou anyways?

ALICE: Since Keine for her and Marisa for me. The "liking mortals club". She gets me. I helped her with Keine. For the liver spell. Wish I had the time to do the same for Marisa. God, Kaguya is going to kill me when she finds out I helped with the liver, won't she.

REISEN: Oh, she already knows. 

The two stay silent, Alice looking terrified but doesn't budge in Reisen's grip. Her wand on the ground still shines a little bit of light on them.

REISEN: Look, I'm going to help you.

ALICE: Isn't that grand. **Sorry, I don't team up with kid-killers.**

REISEN,  _ pained _ : What do you mean? I didn't kill no kids. You mean the school fire? I stopped time so the kids could get out.

ALICE: One of them got stuck under a table and couldn't walk out.

REISEN,  _ widening her eyes _ : That's horrible.

ALICE: That's all you have to say? You didn't think that kind of thing could happen when attacking a room full of children? They're not exactly trained soldiers like you.

Reisen pauses. Bites her lip.

REISEN: Shit. I'm from the Moon. We don't really have a good grasp of Earth mortality and morals.

ALICE: I've figured that out so far.

REISEN: I'm sorry. Listen, I'm so sorry, but right now we need to - 

ALICE: I'm really not the one you need to apologize to.

REISEN, _talking fast_ : - but right now I'm on your side whether you accept it or not because I'm supposed to take down Keine's family tonight and I decided not to do it. And I'm **just as toast as you are** when Kaguya finds out.

Alice mouthes a "what". Reisen lets her go. Alice takes back her wand and aims it at Reisen as a warning, but doesn't use it. 

ALICE: Okay, that's… You're still one of the bad guys, here.

Reisen doesn't say anything and stares at Alice.

ALICE: So what do we do? You're going to say something?

Reisen collapses to the ground face first. There is a tranquilizer needle in her neck. The lights turn on. In the doorframe, Eirin is here with her bow aiming where Reisen was standing. Kaguya behind Eirin.

KAGUYA: So loud, you two are so loud.

Her face lights up. 

KAGUYA: Ah! Alice! The little amateur butcher! I have some business with you actually. You aren't top of my list, but now that you're here…

Alice bolts towards the door, pushing Kaguya and Eirin. Eirin aims at Alice, shoots a needle. She collapses. Eirin goes to check on her. When she grabs Alice's body by the hair, she realizes it's a life-sized doll. A door slams in the distance.

KAGUYA: She got away!

EIRIN: She did… yes, she did.

Eirin violently lets the doll fall to the ground.

EIRIN: But we have more pressing matters to take care off right now. I have something really exciting to show you. I've been doing some experiments.

She steps back into her lab and puts her coat on.

EIRIN: I just needed a test subject, and it just so happens that **the little traitor right here** ,  _ she nudges Reisen with her feet _ is perfect for the occasion.

KAGUYA,  _ nervous _ : So just like that, you've found it? The cure.

EIRIN: No, I did not. I don't think it's even possible. But I think you're going to like what i found even more.

***

Eirin's lab. Reisen wakes up in underwear in a cage. She slowly opens her eyes and sees Eirin talking to Kaguya. Eirin is shaking a little vial in front of her nose.

EIRIN: I couldn't find an antidote to the Hourai Elixir, so I decided to do some research on Keine's body specifics instead. 

KAGUYA: So, what is this potion?

EIRIN: It's brand new. I call this the Feral Serum. It shuts down the human part of the brain for a short moment, which allows the beast part of the brain to overpower it. If you gave this serum to an ordinary human, they would just fall asleep for a few minutes and wake up normal. But for anyone with an animal spirits, this will permanently revert you back to your bestial state.

KAGUYA: And Keine is a half-beast.

EIRIN: She will still be immortal, of course-

KAGUYA: That doesn't matter! It's **brilliant**! She won't even be Keine anymore. Just an beast. A brainless horned lion wandering the woods forever? Mokou can't possibly dedicate her life to that. Brilliant Eirin, you're brilliant. I can't wait to see it work.

A noise of something moving in the corner of the room.

EIRIN: You won't have to wait for long to see my serum at work, Master.

She gestures Kaguya towards Reisen's cage. Reisen is on all fours, crouching like a rabbit. She looks scared, with bloodshot eyes, and scuttles towards the corner of the cage, wrinkling her nose and biting her lips, looking fully animalistic.


	9. Witch Universe - Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for body horror (but not very graphic) and (magical) insects.

A misty rocky mountain. Marisa is falling, rolling and tumbling down the hill bouncing from boulder to boulder. She manages to get back to a semblance of balance, hops up on her broom and starts flying back towards the top of the hill. 

Up there, Reimu is waiting for her, under a barrier of spell cards. Marisa flies in circles around her while rubbing her hands, preparing a spell, then she plunges towards Reimu's barrier. Her eyes go pitch black, and she yells a spell in a terrifying dark language. The cards around Reimu become soft and sloppy and go stick to her like wet paper. Marisa laughs as she speeds back up into the sky. Unamused, Reimu wipes the cards off her face and points her hand towards Marisa. 

REIMU: God Sign ! Righteous opening of sky boundary!

Reimu looks incredibly regal, perhaps older and taller, as a big flash of white thunder falls from the sky and onto Marisa. Marisa falls to the ground in a big crash, surrounded by rocks. Her broom is broken, and she looks very hurt, but she still gets on her elbows to stare at Reimu who is walking towards her.

MARISA: God sign! So it  **is** true what I've heard about you. Reimu the demigod. Congratulations. Why wasn't I invited to the party? Surely, such a big upgrade, you'd want to celebrate.

Reimu says nothing. She chokes back something, be it an answer or tears, and starts to work on a new barrier of cards.

MARISA: So for years, you come here every month to scorn me for chasing immortality, and now you've become immortal before myself? Surely, you'll forgive me if I'm a little bitter.

As she says "bitter", she raises her hand towards Reimu and a dark orb starts to form in her hand, but before she can even yell her spell, Reimu snaps her fingers. there is a white spark on Marisa's hand and her spell is disarmed.

MARISA: Ouch!  _ she shakes her fingers _ The silent treatment, I see. Same as when we were little and I worked for Mima-

REIMU: You still work for Mima.

MARISA: With.

REIMU: For.

MARISA:  **With.**

REIMU:  **Fo-**

MARISA: You think so highly of your holy magic. You think you're so much better than a witch.

REIMU: I do not think I am better than a witch. But I know that I'm better than a dark magician.

MARISA: Ah!  **I've had it!**

She starts laughing.

MARISA: I've been working my ass of in this cold, wild mountain for years to try to be what most of Gensokyo was  **born as** ! Even before that, when I was saving the world with you every month, all the magic I know, I've worked for. I've fought fairies, yokai, gods, all of them born with their gifts. And you Reimu, how did you dare call yourself human when you were born into this shrine? It was your destiny. You were basically born a "future god".

She pauses.

MARISA: This is so annoying. Despite all my work, I'm never going to be forgiven for being raised by the bad guy. What would you do if you were born in the shrine of an evil god, huh? But you don't have to worry about that. Your magic is inherently good. Well I'll show you how bad I'm meant to be.

She gets up, stumbling a little. She extends both arms towards Reimu.

MARISA: Abandon Worms isn't working. Whatever. I have a crazy idea. It's very me. I've always been a thief. If I can't make my own immortality, I will steal someone else's, and I have a certain god in mind.

Sigils and signs appear on her hands.

MARISA: **Thief Sign: Extract Worms!**

A flock of weird black crawling insects come out of Marisa's hand and Towards Reimu and cover Reimu from head to toe. Reimu doesn't budge.

REIMU: Spirit Sign: Fantasy Barrier!

Reimu starts glowing white under the worms. There is a spark, and all the worms shatter and go flying away from her. There are two little worms left on her shoulder, which she brushes off with the back of her hand.

MARISA: No! Gods are strong against magic, but they are not immune to it.  **Again** !

She does the same gesture and starts chanting the same spell, a little bit too fast and rough. There is a beat, then instead of flying towards Reimu, the worms she summons now get under her skin, crawl along her arm; and her left arm as well as the left side of her face start rotting like a corpse. She screams in agony.

Reimu walks towards her. Marisa scuttles away in fear, but instead of attacking, Reimu just squats to talk to her level. She reaches her hand towards Marisa's face and gently brushes her rotten cheek with two fingers.

REIMU: You are the strongest witch that I've ever seen. And I don't think I'm better than you. But you will never be immortal. I don't know much about Abandon Worms. But to become immortal, you must want to be immortal.

MARISA: I want to be immortal. I want to be a magician. There's nothing else in the world that i've ever wanted more than this.

REIMU: You're a dirty little liar.

Reimu takes her hand off Marisa's cheek.

REIMU: And a thief. And vulgar. And violent, you've beaten up yokai that didn't do anything. You've flirted with other girls while Alice was watching. You're now working for a **demon**. All of your life, all your bad actions, you've always justified them with your short lifespan. "I'm not stealing, I'm borrowing, 'cause I'm going to die before you!" You can't do that anymore if you're immortal.

She stands up.

REIMU: You don't want to be immortal, Marisa, because you're dead afraid of owning up to your shit.

MARISA: You-

REIMU: Yeah yeah, that's pretty vulgar talk for a god. 

MARISA: You don't know what you're talking about.

REIMU: How can you - Look. **Come home**. Everyone will be happy to see you.

MARISA: After all I did? I'm the demon in the mountain, remember?

REIMU: I didn't tell them it was you.

Marisa opens her mouth, very surprised by what Reimu just said.

REIMU: If you're afraid of Mima I'll - we'll take care of that. I've sealed her before and I can do it again. So, when you're tired of playing bad witch in this hell-hole, come home, will you? There'll be people waiting for you. Alice… Will be happy to see you.

Marisa doesn't answer. She hides the rotten part of her face with her arm. Reimu sighs and walks away.

***

Mima's hut. Marisa is sitting on the table, pouting. Mima is doing a repair spell on her arm. She does not look happy. The rot on Marisa's arm starts retracting and her arm heals back to normal. The face slowly gets better too until all she has left is a rotten eye.

MARISA: Thank you-

MIMA: Don't thank me. I'm not finished. Your eye…

Marisa's eye is black and swollen with red rot around it.

MIMA: It's hopeless. You can't walk around with an eye like that.

Mima puts her finger on Marisa's eye. Marisa screams a high pitched cry as smokes emanates from her face. Mima is burning it.

MIMA: You only need one anyways. No eye is better than a rotten eye.

MARISA: Just heal me! Come on master, just heal my eye!

MIMA: But then you would have no reminder of your failure, and I would be a bad teacher. No.

She takes her hand off. Marisa covers her burnt eye with her hand, she is bleeding profusely.

MIMA: Especially with all the progress you've made. I can't be soft on you now. You have impressed me, actually. Your spell, Extract Worms… reversing Abandon Worms to make it into theft, I would never have thought of it myself. And it gave me great ideas. It was just what I was missing for our plans.

Marisa takes her hand off her face and looks back at Mima, panting, one eye closed.

MIMA: You're just a human, so  **of course** you were too weak to use it on a god. I don't know why you thought you could pull it off. 

MARISA: I-

MIMA: But on a magician… On a magician, that would work. Oh, pumpkin, my little witch, you really are a genius. I raised you oh, so well!

MARISA: A magician?

MIMA: Yes! It will work. You leave for the city tomorrow morning.

MARISA: You're sending me home? Wait-

MIMA: I'm sending you on a mission. I will be travelling as well!

MARISA: What do you want me to do in Gensokyo?

MIMA: You still want to be a magician, right?

MARISA: Why is everyone asking me th-  **Of course I do!**

MIMA: Then you're going to go back to Gensokyo and have a chat with your magician friend. Alice Margatroid, right? Or another one, any one will do. I will be taking care of the priestess. She was out of your league, so each of us will steal immortality from our own prey! Bring the Alice to me. We will do your spell together. Then the demon becomes a god and the witch becomes a magician. And after that, the world's our oyster. Really, darling, I can't believe you came up with that on your own!

MARISA: What will you do when you're a god?

MIMA: Huh? I will do what I've always done, but this time I will be allowed to do it. You understand that, don't you?

There is a beat. Marisa looks at her feet. Mima looks at her expectandly, with an gesture of "well, are we doing this?"

MARISA: What time should we leave tomorrow?

MIMA: I'm going to sleep now. You rest too. When I'm ready, I will wake you up.

Mima starts to exit. In the doorframe, she looks at Marisa, waiting for a last confirmation.

MARISA: Goodnight, ma'am.

Mima exits. Marisa looks at herself and her burnt eyes in the dirty window. A vision of Reimu appears behind her in the reflection.

REIMU: [Own up to your shit.]

Marisa looks at her table, where the apple, cup of maggots, pentacle and candle are waiting, gathering dust. She strikes a match, lights up the candle. She sets the pentacle aflame, it makes luminous sigils appear. She takes a bite of the apple, spits it into the worms and whispers:

MARISA: Magician Sign - Abandon Worms!

White, worm-like lights cover her hands and crawl over her, covering her in white lights. There is a spark, and the lights go off. The first thing Marisa does is frantically looking around the room to check is the light woke Mima up. When she's sure there's no noise in the house, she relaxes and finally takes a look at herself. 

Her eye is still gone, but she looks young. All of her wrinkles, marks of aging, are gone. Her skin has a glimmer. Bewildered, she runs her hand through her hair, which is luscious and back to blonde, with a hint of red highlights she hasn't seen until her early teens. She takes her broken broom, puts the part back together with tape, and bolts out of the door into the night.


	10. Beast Universe - Part 5

Mokou's house, by night. Mokou is sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Keine sleep. Keine is tossing and turning, whining a little bit as if having a nightmare. Mokou runs her hand through her hair until Keine calms down. 

KEINE: Please… My school… Not my school…

Mokou sighs and gets up. She tiptoes around the room and gets dressed in her usual clothes. She starts to grab a bag. She remembers an earlier conversation. 

ALICE: Please reconsider. No one wanted this.

She remembers walking past her, putting a hand on Alice's shoulder as she walked away.

MOKOU: You did what you could.

Back to reality, Mokou puts the bag back where it was.

MOKOU: (Alice… Please take good care of her)

Mokou has a last look at Keine. Reaches towards her for a hug or a kiss, but stops midway and shakes her head. She tiptoes to the front door and closes it carefully.

On the porch, she lights a cigarette and smokes it to the end. She keeps looking back at the house, as if Keine waking up would be all it takes to change her mind. She finishes her smoke. She puts the butt in the ashtray, deploys her wings and sets flight.

***

Eientei, Kaguya's throne room. Kaguya is talking to Eirin. Suddenly, the main door flies open.

MOKOU: I'm here to put an end to all this.

EIRIN: Do i have deja-vu? I feel like we've heard this before.

MOKOU,  _ ignoring her _ : Kaguya. I'm going to give you what you wanted.

EIRIN: She already has a plan, you-

Kaguya nudges Eirin with her elbow.

KAGUYA: What I want? Interesting. And what am I supposed to want, now?

MOKOU: I'm moving in here with you. You can kill me as many times as you want. It's all yours as long as you promise to **leave Keine alone**.

Kaguya's face lights up like a christmas tree.

KAGUYA: Finally, you've come to your senses!

MOKOU: You have to promise me.

KAGUYA: Please, do you think I care about the beast-girl at all? She was never in my mind. She was just in my way.

MOKOU: If you lay a finger on her, -

KAGUYA: I won't. God, I won't. I don't care about her at all.

MOKOU: Careful. I will know.

KAGUYA: Yes, yes, you'd know. Do you think i'm greedy? I'm not going to go after her if I have you.

Eirin side-eyes Kaguya who doesn't seem to notice the judgemental glance.

MOKOU: Promise me.

KAGUYA: If you promise you won't run away.

There is a beat. Mokou clenches her fists and looks down. Then, she looks up to Kaguya with determination and proclaims:

MOKOU: I promise. I'm yours.


	11. Witch Universe - Part 6

Keine's school of Gensokyo history. We're back to the setting of chapter 1. Marisa is sitting on a chair in front of a table, her hands folded on her knees, apologetic. Alice looks her in the face, both hands on the table, brows furrowed, like for an interrogation, while Mokou continues working on the classroom, tidying up books.

ALICE: … So for 10 years, you were in the Underworld.

MARISA,  _ nervous _ : Yep.

ALICE: Fell into a pit while looking for ingredients.

MARISA: Yep.

ALICE: Were turned immortal by yokai of the Underground.

MARISA: Uh-huh.

ALICE: As yokai of the Underground do.

MARISA: Yes.

Alice steps back and folds her arms.

ALICE: Yeah, I don't believe you. 

MARISA: What do you know? You've never been to hell.

ALICE: You are right! Which is why you thought that would be a good lie, am I right? No, I am pretty sure I would have gotten a call from Yuugi, the Komejis, from  **anyone** , if you had been there for ten years.

MARISA: I was held  **prisoner.**

Alice bangs her fists on the table, not very hard because it's not like her to be violent, even now as she tries to appear angry. Her eyes are teary.

ALICE: Why are you lying to me?

MARISA: This is so annoying! I thought after ten years you would be happy to see me!

Alice pulls her into a hug, a little bit violently, over the table. She hides her teary face.

ALICE: I'm happy to see you! I've missed you, you  **idiot** ! I thought you were dead! So why won't you tell me the truth?

MARISA,  _ red _ : Listen, there are-

ALICE,  _ still crying _ : And what happened to your eye?

MARISA: There are more important things to talk about right now.

ALICE,  _ still crying  _ : Like what? Like what?

MARISA: The, uh, the people that held me prisoner, right. 

ALICE: Yes?

MARISA,  _ clears her throat _ : She- They got out.

Mokou peers out from her cleaning with a look of concern.

ALICE: What are you talking about?

MARISA: They uh, they got out of the Underworld. There's a new portal, see. That's how I managed to get out too.

ALICE: I don't want to hear this nonsense-

MOKOU: Wait. What are they doing?

MARISA,  _ turning to Mokou _ : She's- They're planning to attack the shrine. I need both of your help at full fighting capacity. We have to go warn Reimu  **right now** .

Alice and Marisa look at each other with wide eyes. Alice looks worried. Her eyes say "I don't believe you but I can see something bad is up". Marisa's say "I can't tell you the truth but I'm really trying". 

MARISA: Please. Do you believe me?

ALICE: … Let's get going. Mokou?

MOKOU: Yeah, all right.  _ she puts down the books she was working on,  _ I'm coming.

****

No discernable location. Reimu is trapped in a coil of dark thorns. Her hands are tied in the air. She is sweating and squinting, trying to concentrate on getting out.

REIMU: (I wouldn't be in this situation if I just ratted her out.)

From her half-closed eyes, she sees a blurry Mima, making wide gestures with her staff and muttering words.

REIMU: (I knew this would happen. I knew it since the very beginning. On the first day Marisa disappeared, I should have knocked on Alice door and said "I know where she is.")

She tries to move her arms but the thorns grow tighter.

REIMU: (I didn't want that though. I was greedy. Alice, coming through to save Marisa from her childhood neurosis? I didn't like the mental image.)

She smiles.

REIMU: (Reimu Hakurei. You're going to die because you were jealous. That is so funny. Parsee is going to laugh her ass off in hell. You wanted it so bad. You wanted it so bad, to be the one to rescue Marisa. The credit of looking deep inside her soul and trauma and still lend a helping hand. No one could have that, huh?  **It was Reimu Hakurei or no one** .)

She looks at Mima. Mima extends her hand.

MIMA: Thief Sign - Extract Worms!

Dark worms slowly sprout from Mima's hands and start to crawl towards Reimu.

REIMU: Come at me, Mima! I wasn't a good god anyways. Have fun with your tainted powers stolen from an already tainted girl!

MARISA: Hey,  **dumbass** ! Cut the drama! You're not dead yet!

Reimu turns to see Marisa, jumping from her broom, panting. Mokou is flying and dropping Alice on the ground. They are all battle-ready, hands outstretched for spells.

ALICE: Hey, Marisa, that's not an underworld-yokai...

She ends her sentence with a smile and raises her army of dolls.

ALICE: … that's even better!

MIMA,  _ to Marisa _ : Bad girl! You are so ungrateful! I teach you everything and this is how you treat me?

Marisa aims for the worms who are almost reaching Reimu.

MARISA: Love-colored Master Spark!

A master sparks bursts out of Marisa's hands and onto the worms, but when the light fades, the worms are untouched.

REIMU: A Love-sign spell?  **Are you kidding me** ? You have to know that won't work against Mima!

MARISA: Wha- But it's Master Spark!

REIMU,  _ looking at the worms who are reaching her feet _ : Marisa, use your real magic!

Marisa is taken aback.

MARISA: Not **here**! I can't! Alice will never love me again if she sees me like this!

REIMU: I saw you like this and it didn't make me stop loving you, moron!

Worms crawl on Reimu, they're gaining speed and covering her face. She can't talk anymore.

ALICE: Marisa, what is she talking about.

MARISA: I don't know, I-

REIMU, in Marisa's head:  **Own up to your shit.**

MARISA: I'll just have to show you! (Can I?) And if you hate me afterwards, (please don't) well, that's life!

She shakes nervously. Her eyes turn completely black like before her other Dark magic spells. Sigils and rot grow on her arm. Mima looks panicked.

MIMA:  **Don't** \- the dark forces will colli-

MARISA: Hate-sign! Master Shadow!

A dark wavelength obliterates the shadow worms. Black magic force emanates and clashes between Mima and Marisa. They both look pained as they struggle to overpower the other. Alice is in shock, Mokou protects herself behind her arm. Marisa screams in a low pitch. The dark energy explodes. Everything goes black. Over the Hakurei Shrine, a big swirling black hole emerges.


	12. Beast Universe - Part 6

Eientei. A traditional looking room with little furniture. Mokou is sitting on the ground, on her knees. She is all dolled-up in in imperial kimono much like Kaguya's style, with intricate hair and traditional make-up. She looks sad and resigned, absentmindedly flipping through a book. The only thing in the room that doesn't look like a dollhouse prop is a full ashtray on the floor. A paper door slides. Kaguya appears holding a plate of food.

KAGUYA: Good morning, Mokou. Did you sleep well?

A loud crashing noise comes from another room of the mansion. Kaguya twitches, almost drops the food.

MOKOU: What was that?

KAGUYA,  _ snapping and looking behind her towards the other rooms _ :  **Keep it down!**

ALICE,  _ in the distance _ : Let go of her, you sick-

There is another loud crash. Kaguya drops the food.

MOKOU, _shouting_ : **Alice! Alice! Can you hear me?** _to Kaguya_ What is she doing here? You **promised** you wouldn't-

KAGUYA:  **I** didn't do anything. They came here to "rescue you", so (while you may accuse me of playing word games) our promise still hol-

MOKOU: **They?** _She gets up_ **Keine!**

She runs over Kaguya who falls down, and bolts in the corridor.

KEINE,  _ from a room _ : What is it? What's in the syringe? Don't touch me!

Mokou:  **Keine!**

Mokou follows the noise and darts into the room. Kaguya gets up, wiping her face stained with food she fell into, and follows her.

EIRIN: Mokou! Finally stopped sulking in your room? Unfortunately it's too late for her.

Mokou looks at where she is. It's Eirin's lab. Alice is held against a table counter by Tewi. Eirin has a half-transformed Keine on a leash, struggling, her horns growing bigger and her teeth sharper.

KAGUYA,  _ arriving behind Mokou _ :  **Eirin** ! Is the serum working on her?

EIRIN: Like a charm. A little bit too well even. When we tried it on Reisen, she became a harmless little rabbit. This subject, though, she might go murderous and savage. That's what happen when you work with the unpredictability of nature.

KEINE: I won't lose my consciousness! I'm still human! I'm still human!

Mokou looks down at the cage where rabbit-Reisen is sitting. Her eyes widen in shock.

EIRIN: Care to say that again?

KEINE: I…  _ she looks surprised and scared, like it's becoming more difficult to talk _ I… I not… I will… Keine is…  **Focus, Keine! You can talk!** _ She looks like she struggles a lot, but stays determined _ . I have an idea! I'll just die and come back, restored! Dying will cure this!

Mokou steps up to stop her but Kaguya grabs Mokou from behind as Keine picks up a scalpel blade. Eirin doesn't stop her. Keine stabs herself as Mokou closes her eyes. She bursts into flames like for a regular Phoenix death, but when the flames wear off she is even more transformed than before, her face distorting into a snout.

KEINE: It's worse! It's making it worse! I feel… I'm starting to…

She opens her mouth to say something but a roar comes out instead. She covers her mouth and her eyes tear up as she keeps transforming. Kaguya is manically laughing the whole time.

KAGUYA: You still wanna live your life with this beast, Mokou? When she's done transforming she won't even recognize you anymore! She'll just be another predator, rampaging through your forest!

Mokou turns to face Kaguya and grabs her by the neck.

MOKOU: Put her back! You monster! You fucking monster!  **You promised** !

KAGUYA: I'm not a monster! Look at me! Am I the one with fur and horns here?

MOKOU: I was so stupid to believe you! I will… I will-

KAGUYA: We're the only two truly immortal humans now! As we were meant to be!

She closes up the space between them two, and pulls Mokou in for a kiss. As she's about to kiss her, Keine, in full Hakutaku form, roars furiously, breaks free from her leash and charges towards the two. She bites Kaguya at the torso and sends her flying into the ground. Keine then turns to Mokou, clawing the ground. Mokou reflectively takes a step back and raises her hands, as if she was going to be attacked, but instead Keine just gently bumps Mokou's head with her snout, and tugs at Mokou dress to move her away from Kaguya.

MOKOU: Keine…  _ she reaches her hand to pet Keine's side _ You're still…

Keine puts her whole body between the two girls and growls at Kaguya. Kaguya is facing the ground, holding her torso with one hand where she was bitten. She's shielding her face and her other arm.

KAGUYA:  **Enough!** Enough of this. If removing each-other from time itself didn't make you mine, I'll have to remove you from space as well! 

MOKOU: What are you do-

Kaguya turns around, reveals her wicked face and a spell she was preparing in her hands.

KAGUYA: I will trap us in a pocket dimension of my creation where no one will ever get between us! 

Energy starts bursting from her hands. 

MOKOU: Don't you dare!

Mokou quickly preps her hands too and a burst of red energy comes out of it to counter Kaguya's. The girls struggle as the two spells meet. Eirin's vials and experiments in her lab are shaking from the shockwave. Suddenly, the shock gets so big that all of the glass shatters, various potions are spilling all over, and there is an explosion. In the lab, a big swirl looking like a black hole emerges.


	13. Worlds Collide - Part 1

**WITCH UNIVERSE**

Hakurei Shrine. Alice, Mokou and Mima are looking at the big black hole which swallowed Marisa whole as it expanded. Reimu is still trying to resist Mima's "power theft" spell.

ALICE, _screaming_ : Marisa!

MOKOU: Where did she go?

The black hole seems to twirl and open as the ground shakes. Huge Beast Keine emerges from the rift and her heavy steps on the ground throw Mima off balance.

MOKOU: K… Kei-

Mima screams as she falls to the ground and her continuous wave of black worms hits Keine instead of Reimu. The worms cover Keine in a layer of black energy. When they get off her, Keine is back to human and collapses on the ground. The worms start quickly crawling back to Mima.

MIMA: No no no no, wait, this is not the power I wanted to steal-

The worms go back inside her mouth and under her clothes as she squirms trying to chase them. Suddenly, she screams, as a big horn, shaped like Keine's, sprouts out of her forehead. Then another. Then sharp teeth. 

MIMA: What… What… What is happening to m-

She ends her sentence in a roar. Reimu uses the distraction to untangle herself from the thorns and run towards Mima. She's coughing out some worms but her spiritual energy still shines through. As Mima's head turns into a Hakutaku's, Reimu grabs Mima by the horns and pronounces her spell to seal her into an orb.

***

**BEAST UNIVERSE**

Eientei. Mokou, Kaguya, Alice, Eirin and the Rabbits are in the lab looking at the big black hole. A blonde, human figure falls from the rift like a ragdoll.

MOKOU: Keine! Is she back to normal?

EIRIN: That's… That's not Keine, that's-

ALICE, _screaming and pushing out of Tewi's grip_ : Marisa?

Marisa gets up from the ground, rubbing her head.

ALICE: You're not… But you died? You're not dead?

MARISA, _confused_ : I told you all about it already, remember?

ALICE: You're alive! You… You look so young! Did you, by chance, time-travel?

MARISA, _rubbing her good eye_ : Where the fuck am I?

ALICE, _not listening_ : Oh no, what happened to your eye?

Marisa starts to look around but Kaguya growls, gets up and tackles her.

KAGUYA: Meddling! **Meddling, meddling again** ! Is there **anyone** in this godforsaken place who won't stick their nose in my business?

MARISA: Woah woah woah, hold up, I didn't do anything! 

Alice snaps her fingers.

ALICE: I do get it! (If she only has one eye, she can't be from the past!) I've heard of this! This is a rift between parallel universes! Marisa, I'm so happy to see you!

MARISA: The feeling's mutual, sweet cheeks, but you're not really helping right now.

KAGUYA: How dare you come back from the dead just to put yourself between me and Mokou? **Mortals**! Get the memo! She's mine.

MARISA: Woah oh, hey, buddy, I don't know in which "universe" I am, but from the way she's seething at your sight right now, puh-retty sure that's not the case. Now, will anyone explain what's going on?

KAGUYA, _restraining her harder_ : Lowlife! How dare you speak to me like this! I'm the Eternal Princess.

MARISA: Oh, that's **enough!**

She launches herself to escape Kaguya's grip, then grabs Kaguya's face with her hands. Her eyes go black as she mutters a dark spell and starts rotting Kaguya's cheeks.

ALICE, _taken aback_ : That's… Oh goodness, is that dark magic? You're not-

Alice looks horrified, but as she is dominating Kaguya, Marisa looks at her with a smile and a glint in her eyes that says "This is who I am." Alice gulps but Marisa doesn't break eye contact. After a beat, Alice returns her her smile. Eirin aims at Marisa with her bow but Alice points at her with her wand. The arrow doesn't get far because the bowstring has been turned into red ribbon. 

ALICE: Witch and magician duet, like in the old times?

MARISA: How about two magicians?

ALICE: Right. This I can work with.

They join hands and air sigils appear. After a few minutes of joining forces, Mokou, Alice and Marisa have Tewi, Eirin and Kaguya knocked unconscious on the ground.


	14. Worlds Collide - Part 2

**WITCH UNIVERSE**

Hakurei Shrine. The Rift is still here. Alice and Reimu are sitting on a stone, watching over the black hole.

ALICE: How can we be sure she's in Keine's universe?

REIMU: We can't. I'm a god in this universe only. What's beyond that rift, is beyond my control. 

ALICE: I'm worried sick. I just found out she wasn't dead and now I might be losing her again.

REIMU: Don't worry. She'll be fine. You know her. In any universe, she'll manage.

Alice looks at Reimu. She is saying these reassuring words, but she's also bouncing her leg.

ALICE: You're worried too. I'm sorry.

REIMU: Please don't be. I deserve a little bit of anxiety. I lied to you for 10 years.

ALICE: Yeah… Well that… You told me everything now. I don't know what I would have done, were I in your situation.

REIMU: Well, you hate Mima. She mind controlled you for three years when you were young.

ALICE: That's true. You hate her as well. She broke your shrine and pretended to be a god, when you were young.

REIMU: She did. That's… That's not why I hate her.

ALICE: Yeah. me neither.

They kick their feet in the air while intensely looking at the rift.

ALICE: Hey, Reimu?

REIMU: Yeah?

ALICE: Please tell me the "berries that make you hungrier" story again.

Reimu laughs.

***

Keine's school of Gensokyo history. Mokou and Keine are walking around the school. Mokou is showing her various things she did.

KEINE: You rearranged the books by time period instead of author?

MOKOU: Yes, I thought it was easier that way. Do you-

KEINE: I love it. I should have done this myself.

They sit in front of the bookshelf.

KEINE: I'm so proud of you. This is amazing. I was always afraid-

MOKOU: Yeah, you told me.

KEINE: - Always afraid that after I die, people will stop caring about history. That pushed me to become immortal -

MOKOU: Yeah, I know.

KEINE,  _ smiling at Mokou _ : … Part of it anyways. Part of what pushed me to become immortal.

MOKOU: And who could blame you? I mean…

She picks a random book on the shelf.

MOKOU: … "The adventures of Minato no Yorimitsu and how He exterminated 40 villains of the Moon on a Sunday on an empty stomach". Love the guy! It would be a real shame if no one was here to tell the story.

Keine bursts out laughing.

KEINE: Isn't he one of your cousins?

MOKOU: Yeah, yeah, well I can tell you, they forgot a lot of stuff in the books. Did you know he had this nasty habit of ...

They continue quietly talking over books, randomly picking them off the shelf, pointing at the images in them, and laughing. Mokou ends up eyes closed, lying down on Keine's lap as she reads out loud.

KEINE: Konoe Motozae-

MOKOU: A glutton.

KEINE: Kujo Michiie-

MOKOU: A pervert.

KEINE: Ichijou Kanetsune-

MOKOU: Didn't actually die in 1284.

Keine stops reading. Mokou opens her eyes.

MOKOU: Something's bothering you.

KEINE: I'm thinking about the Mokou in my universe.

MOKOU,  _ sighs _ : Yeah. I would be worried sick if I was her.

KEINE: And you are her, so-

MOKOU: Yeah.

KEINE: She needs me.

MOKOU: That fucking sucks, but I understand.

Mokou sits up.

KEINE: It's just… Not right. I'm already dead in this world. This is not my place.

MOKOU: So that's how things are.

KEINE: That's how they are.

MOKOU: … I don't want you to go.

Mokou gets up and lends a hand to Keine to help her off the ground.

MOKOU: But I'd rather feel sorry for myself than feel sorry for a not-quite-myself. Let's go back.

**BEAST UNIVERSE**

Eirin's lab. Mokou is walking back and forth in front of the Rift, muttering to herself and frantically looking back and forth at the Rift, the ground, the Rift, the ground.

MOKOU: What's taking her so long? She is in Marisa's universe. She should be headed back by now. What if she doesn't understand where she is? She must have been so scared. Maybe Reimu and the others saw her in beast form, got scared and attacked her?

Kaguya, tied up with rope at the corner of the room, looking beat up but still sporting a mischievous smile on her lips, blurts out:

KAGUYA:  **Hah! Probably! That's what I would have done if I were them, anyways!**

MOKOU, _ ignoring her _ : No, the other me must know. The other me would have known she wasn't a threat. 

KAGUYA:  **Hey!** Don't ignore me!

Mokou stops in her pacing.

MOKOU: Kaguya, do you have any idea how many people are in danger right now because of your little episode?  _ She looks back at the rift. _ God, I should just go check. If she isn't back in ten minutes I'm gonna go in there and check. 

KAGUYA,  _ whines _ : What? No! Don't go!

MOKOU: Why? I'm going in.

KAGUYA: But if you can't come back, nobody will be else for me anymore.

MOKOU,  _ pinching her forehead _ : This again? Look. Get out of your woods for a second, you hick. Gensokyo is full of freaks. There has to be an immortal somewhere who is as nuts as you.

KAGUYA,  _ teary _ : But I already got one. 

MOKOU: Nah. I'm not it.

KAGUYA,  _ quieter _ : It has to be you. It's always been you.

Mokou sighs and goes to crouch in front of Kaguya. Firmly but gently, she says:

MOKOU: That's not yours to decide.

****

A room in Eientei. Reisen is lying on a big table. Marisa and Alice both have their hands around her, light sigils all around and muttering spells in harmony. The lights stop. Reisen opens her eyes.

ALICE: Feeling better?

Reisen nods.

ALICE: Think you can talk?

REISEN: Y… Yeah, think so. I think so. Yeah, I can talk!

Alice and Marisa get their hands off the table, sighing in relief.

ALICE: Go take a walk. Get used to walking on two legs again.

REISEN: Y… Yeah.  _ she gets up _ . Thank you.

ALICE: Don't mention it.

Reisen walks away.

ALICE,  _ shouting  _ : We're still taking you to prison after that!

MARISA: Woah, woah, what did she do?

ALICE,  _ sighing _ : Long story. And not really mine to tell.

She turns to Marisa.

ALICE: You… You're so different from the Marisa I knew. This magic you're using… It's unconventional, to say the least, but I would never have broken Reisen's curse without you.

MARISA: Yeah, about that…

ALICE: How come the magic in your world is so different?

Marisa nervously puts her hands in her hair.

MARISA: About that… Bab-  **Alice** , the Marisa you knew probably knew dark magic too. She was raised by Mima, after all. She just… She just never told you.

ALICE: Oh. I see.

A beat.

ALICE: No, I see. It should have been obvious, really. Now that you say it, I see so many hints.

MARISA: But you trusted her.

ALICE,  _ scoffs _ : Do you think I'm stupid? No I didn't. She was always talking nonsense. I was okay with it because it meant I didn't have to be real or vulnerable either. It was a good bargain. But this…

She brushes her hand over Marisa's eyepatch, over the scars of black magic.

ALICE: This I can trust. This is real. To help people from a world you barely know, you dared to show your true colors. I don't know what happened to you in your world… But this version of you, I feel like I can trust.

Marisa blushes and softens under the touch.

ALICE: … So, will you tell me what happened to you?

MARISA: Well, uh, I couldn't do Abandon Worms…

ALICE: My Marisa couldn't either.

MARISA: So I went to Mima to ask her to teach me…

ALICE: See, this is probably where the universes separated, because my Marisa thought she could become stronger by  **beating** Mima, so she went to attack her instead.

MARISA: Of course, I got entranced into her schemes again…

ALICE: A division of universes that happens because of just one decision… This is interesting, it really goes against my studies on free will - I'm sorry. That's not important. Please continue.

MARISA: No, that is really interesting, you should - Anyways. I was just like when I was a child. Against all odds, I really wanted to please her. So I started doing more and more missions I wouldn't have accepted if-

She stops talking and puts her hands to her mouth, as if she just remembered something.

ALICE: If?

MARISA: I'm sorry, this isn't right.

ALICE,  _ sighs _ : Yes, I was starting to think the same thing.

MARISA: Listen, I love talking to you. I am so happy right now. But-

ALICE: I'm not the one you should be saying this to.

MARISA: Yes. My Alice, the one in my world…

ALICE: You need to tell her all this. You have to be honest with her. This is what being truthful means.

MARISA,  _ throwing her head back _ : Argh! I can never! That's too much! I can never tell her all this!

ALICE: But you just did. In a way. You just need to do it "for real" now.

Marisa looks at Alice.

MARISA: (She doesn't hate you. Nothing happened. She was merely curious. The same dorky, nerdy Alice.)

ALICE: I trust you, but now you need to trust me. The other me. Trust her to react like me.

MARISA,  _ laughs _ : You are too wise.

ALICE: But you made me. You were being so mature, now I have to live up to it. I hate you. I would rather you lied to me and been your old self. Then I could have afforded to be immature too, I would have forbid you to go back to the Rift and trapped you here, alive, with me. I'm going to be so mad at myself that I didn't do it when you're gone.

Marisa pulls Alice into a hug.

MARISA: I'm going back. I'm sorry.

ALICE: You have to tell everything to the other me. You have to tell her everything or I'll open up a Rift and go to your world and kill you. It takes a magician to take down another magician.

MARISA: I promise. I'll tell her everything.

**WITCH UNIVERSE**

Keine hugs Mokou one last time and Keine enters the rift. 

**BEAST UNIVERSE**

Alice presses one last kiss to Marisa's eyepatch and Marisa enters the rift.

***

Inside the rift. The background is a void of twirling white patterns. Marisa, wiping tears walks in it in one direction. Keine, starting to cry, in the other direction. They cross paths and look at each other. They talk. First they look sad, and choking back tears. Then Marisa says something that makes Keine light up. She points at the swirls, and they talk with more enthusiasm. They are smiling.

***

**WITCH UNIVERSE**

Hakurei Shrine. Mokou, Reimu and Alice are expectantly looking at the rift.

ALICE: What is she doing…

The hole in the rift opens, but instead of Marisa, Keine comes back out.

KEINE: Big news, everyone! Marisa has a great idea and would like to know what you think!


	15. Epilogue

**??? UNIVERSE**

Mokou's house, early morning. Mokou is standing alone in her living room. She is fidgeting in front of a day calendar, dancing on one foot to the other. She plays with the paper, then bites her lip with a smile and tears off the page. She exclaims:

MOKOU: **It's today!**

***

Same universe. Alice's house.

Alice and Marisa are in a bed, tangled in each other's arms. They look at the ray of light coming through the curtains.

ALICE: The sun is up.

MARISA,  _ sleepy _ : It's not.

ALICE,  _ hugging Marisa tighter _ : Five more minutes

MARISA:  **Ten** more minutes.

They stay there cuddling, then after a while Alice speaks.

ALICE: We need to go.

MARISA: Ugh.

***

A moment later. Marisa is getting dressed. Alice is packing a bag.

ALICE: And don't forget that rope spells backfire if you use wool.

MARISA: I  **know** how rope spells work, babe.

ALICE: And take care. Don't meddle with Moon affairs. Or Hell affairs. 

MARISA: I will be  **fine-**

ALICE: Don't go yokai-hunting without Reimu. And oh, remember to pick up the mushrooms from Rikako every other Saturday. You always forget the mush-

MARISA: You do know you'll be there on Saturdays to tell me just that and scold me just the same when I forget, right?

ALICE: Well, you can never have too many reminders. **She** would agree with me.

Marisa finishes putting on her coat. Alice gives Marisa her broom and her bag and they head out of the house hand in hand.

***

Hakurei Shrine. Reimu is outside, looking inside the temple through a window.

REIMU: Everything's ready on my side. 

Inside the temple, someone answers.

???: Who could have known being the God of Seals and Boundaries applied to the boundaries between words as well!

REIMU: Yeah, that's too much power. If I knew I'd have to do this before becoming a god, would I have bothered?

???: Haha. Everyone's learning new things all the time.

REIMU: Everything ok on your side?

The window view gets clearer. She was actually talking to her reflection in the window, who moves and talks on its own.

MIRROR REIMU: Yeah. I can hear them on the path to the Shrine already. Get ready.

REIMU: Count of three… One, two…

Mokou arrives from above, flying. In her hands is a box wrapped in gift paper.

MOKOU: Reimu! Am I late?

Reimu raises her hands, and a Rift opens, with all its twirls and its humming noise.

MOKOU: No, just in time, ok!

Mokou lands. From the stairway that leads to the Shrine, Marisa and Alice arrive hand in hand. 

ALICE: Reimu, Mokou! Hi!

MOKOU: Come on, hurry up! Let's go!

Alice and Marisa walk up to the Rift. They stop in front of it. Alice sets Marisa's broom aside to give her a passionate kiss. Reimu averts her eyes. In the window, the other Reimu asks.

MIRROR REIMU: You're gonna be ok?

REIMU: Oh, come on. You know me. It's like that every year. It's like, my favourite holiday at this point.

MIRROR REIMU: Yeah… I can't wait to see her.

Reimu smiles. Mokou taps her fingers on her gift, looking nervous. When Alice and Marisa pull out of the kiss, they are both crying.

ALICE: God…  _ she wipes a tear _ See you next year.

MARISA: See you in five minutes.

Marisa kisses Alice's cheek and walks into the Rift. There is a light as she disappears. A second later, Keine comes out of it, running like mad into Mokou's arms, knocking her back as the wrapped gift falls to the ground.

***

**UNIVERSE ???**

Bamboo forest. Kaguya is shoved against a tree. Her backbone cracks. She is battered and panting. Between two big breaths, she manages to talk.

KAGUYA: You won't get away with this.

A hand yanks her back on her feet and looks her in the eye. It's the identical, other universe's Kaguya, looking at her with sadistic eyes.

MIRROR KAGUYA: I already have.

She tilts Kaguya's head up to have her look at the tree behind her. It's covered in sigils that start to glow. Mirror Kaguya pushes her back into the tree and starts walking backwards. She snaps her fingers. The tree explodes. After the explosion, Kaguya is left half-burned in the ashes. She is fainting, but smiling wider than we've ever seen her smile, stars in her eyes.

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> I also draw illustrations inspired by this fic, you can find the art here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23844514/chapters/57303739  
> I might continue posting art of this fic even now that it's completed, so keep an eye for it!  
> Find me on tumblr @avlvla .


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